Previous Topics
In RPG Theory

8/5/2005 agony: Moral Question, Author Stance, and the planted player
I've been a lurker for a short while now and will not pretend to know a great deal about GNS.  I was not quite sure if my post fit in…
In RPG Theory
Participants: agony, ScottM, Bankuei, M. J. Young.

8/4/2005 M. J. Young: After Reading Cruciel's Dice Riddle
Cruciel's A Dice Mechanic Riddle got me thinking a bit, and although this lacks a few of the factors he wanted to include it struck me as an interesting mechanic…
In RPG Theory
Participants: M. J. Young, ffilz.

8/3/2005 Hereward The Wake: Restricting/controlling choices for combat
This comes from many of the discussions of desiging combat systems. Working under the stress of life or death combat, much of what the combatant does happens instinctivley, if one…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Hereward The Wake, LogicaLunatic, Troy_Costisick, bcook1971, Nogusielkt, Noon, simon_hibbs, drnuncheon, GB Steve, Black Iris Dancer, Valamir, M. J. Young, Justin Marx.

8/2/2005 Silmenume: Regarding the "actual moment(s)” of Role-play.
Looking at the Big ModelTM we note that “play” is said to have actually commenced at the level described as “Exploration.”  So what has changed when the players switch from…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Silmenume, Alan, Nathan P., Justin A Hamilton, Simon Marks, Ron Edwards, Caldis, Joshua BishopRoby.

7/31/2005 Andy Kitkowski: Gaming Theory Blogs That You Should Bookmark
Hey all, over on RPGNet I threw out a line to get links to several gaming theory blogs.  Since it sounds like some of the Forge's theory speak will (hopefully!)…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Andy Kitkowski, chadu, Miskatonic, Paka, John Kim, Jonas Karlsson, haiiro, Grover, Ron Edwards, jaw6, Joshua BishopRoby.

7/31/2005 Levi Kornelsen: Desire, Action, Effect
Okay, simple challenge.  Pick something you did to change your game, and write it up something like this: 1. The change I wanted in my game was: Name something that…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Levi Kornelsen, ephemere, Adam Dray, Nathan P..

7/31/2005 cruciel: A Dice Mechanic Riddle
So, I'm sitting around my house eating lentils and praying for divine punishment on whatever dark force is both preventing me from sleeping and denying me the lucidity of wakefulness,…
In RPG Theory
Participants: cruciel, demiurgeastaroth, Matthew Chan.

7/31/2005 Paganini: Social Functionality
In this thread: http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=16180 Ron wrote: When games like The Great Ork Gods and The Mountain Witch are seen as revolutionary, whereas in fact they merely accord with the bare…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Paganini, Noon, Jack Aidley, Justin A Hamilton, Ron Edwards.

7/29/2005 Resonantg: Memetics in RPGs
I'm not sure if this has been discussed before, but my searches on the site proved fruitless, so I'll bring it up. In the game world I'm dealing with (Orion's…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Resonantg, Alan, Miskatonic, Vaxalon, Noon, contracycle, LogicaLunatic.

7/29/2005 Everspinner: Target Numbers, or the last bastion of GM fiat
Hello There is an area of game design that I have been wondering about for a while. Since it is something that must have been discussed before, I would appreciate…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Everspinner, GB Steve, Jack Aidley, daMoose_Neo, Noon, cruciel, Adam Dray, xenopulse, David Bapst, Gelasma, simon_hibbs, btrc, Andrew Norris, John Harper.

7/29/2005 Halzebier: [The Pool] Various Questions
Hi there! I've never played The Pool, but I'm planning to and reading up on it. A couple of questions remain and since the Random Order Creations forum is inactive,…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Halzebier, Gaerik, Ron Edwards.

7/28/2005 PrzeSzkoda: Character creation and immersion
Although I am posting this thread because I'm considering incorporating several ideas that I would like to discuss into a game I'm currently working on, I decided to do this…
In RPG Theory
Participants: PrzeSzkoda, Ron Edwards, GB Steve.

7/27/2005 Eero Tuovinen: Initializing the roleplaying experience
So, I'm fiddling with game design a little bit, and I'm thinking on what makes the social and psychological event of roleplaying possible. What, in general terms, are the things…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Eero Tuovinen, matthijs, komradebob, Trevis Martin, Miskatonic, Justin Marx, Jack Aidley, Paul Czege, Levi Kornelsen, rrr, ffilz.

7/26/2005 greyorm: Immersion, Childishness, and Understanding
Over in the Creator or Fan? thread, an idea came up that was discussed (barely) regarding Immersion and whether or not it is healthy. I said something about the idea…
In RPG Theory
Participants: greyorm, John Kim, Thor Olavsrud, Clinton R. Nixon, ewilen, Mark Woodhouse, Ron Edwards, Frank T, Marco, Bankuei, J. Tuomas Harviainen, GB Steve, FroglarTBGE, xenopulse, contracycle, ADGBoss, Simon Marks, M. J. Young, James Holloway, Merten.

7/26/2005 Vaxalon: Reward systems need not be unified.
In "Narrativist games and "winning"? Ron says: I see reward systems as either being unified (perhaps with many interrelated parts, perhaps hierarchical parts) or broken - either the parts don't…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Vaxalon, TonyLB, timfire, Justin A Hamilton, Sean, Ron Edwards, ewilen, Jack Aidley, Paganini, cruciel, komradebob, Master Marx.

7/26/2005 simon_hibbs: Resolving social conflicts amicably
Since Steve closed his thread, I'd like to re-orient the debate a little. I'll use this comment by Clinton as a startign point. .....I…
In RPG Theory
Participants: simon_hibbs, Rob Carriere, cruciel, Albert of Feh, Vaxalon, Bankuei, Sydney Freedberg, Ron Edwards, Sean, xenopulse, lumpley, Thor Olavsrud, bcook1971, Resonantg, drnuncheon, TonyLB.

7/26/2005 Clinton R. Nixon: A psychological model of role-playing
I've posted this on my weblog before, but it got about as much response as a newspaper boy at the front door. So, here's the "Clinton R. Nixon Real Deal…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Clinton R. Nixon, Paka, SlurpeeMoney, ewilen, John Kim, Noon, Miskatonic, ethan_greer, ADGBoss, Matt Snyder, Marco, Nathan P., cruciel, cognis.

7/25/2005 GB Steve: When does the conflict start - and why not roleplay it instead?
From this thread Capes Demo at DexCon 8: With the recent profusion of social resolution mechanics I've seen in a lot of indie games, I've been worried that they might…
In RPG Theory
Participants: GB Steve, Jack Aidley, Clinton R. Nixon, Simon Marks, simon_hibbs, greyorm, Gaerik, Matt Snyder, Bankuei, Doug Ruff, TonyLB, Valamir, Mark Woodhouse.

7/25/2005 haiiro: How did you learn to GM?
I posted a question this morning on Treasure Tables, my weblog for GMs: how did you learn to GM? My rambling answer is there, in the post ("How Did You…
In RPG Theory
Participants: haiiro, GB Steve, Clinton R. Nixon, simon_hibbs, TonyLB, Andrew Morris, Bankuei, Miskatonic, Justin Marx, ADGBoss, Remko, Noon, droog, Damballa.

7/24/2005 Mark Woodhouse: No power for me, thanks
This thread is an attempt to reorganize and elaborate on the proto-idea discussed in 'Creator or Fan?'http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=16088.0 The basic question I am wrestling with is: can players who refuse GM-like…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Mark Woodhouse, Nogusielkt, John Kim, bcook1971, beingfrank, MR. Analytical, Jack Aidley, greyorm, Noon, ScottM.

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Subsequent Topics
In RPG Theory

8/7/2005 Noon: Address of Challenge: The care and feeding of
Split from: Gamism: Exploration of conflict & Address of conflict (Important to the context of this thread) I'm tackling that same question regarding RPG/board games with Power/Evil, and I'm not…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Noon, David Bapst, xenopulse, komradebob.

8/8/2005 xenopulse: Complications Instead of Failure
Due to several recent discussions, I realized that one of the things I really like about most conflict resolution mechanics (e.g., Primetime Adventures' system) is that you can have interesting…
In RPG Theory
Participants: xenopulse, ScottM, Silmenume, Ron Edwards, timfire, cruciel, M. J. Young, Balbinus, Joshua BishopRoby, ewilen.

8/8/2005 LandonSuffered: D10s, Add-Ons, and the Missing TN 11
Since this is a forum for game designers I thought I’d post this short question here. Background first: I’ve had some complaints in the past with D10 games that have…
In RPG Theory
Participants: LandonSuffered, rafial, Adam Dray, Valamir.

8/11/2005 Calithena: Are these two things incompatible?
1. "You're in a cavern of undulating stone, with an ancient brass demon-idol hulking above its farther reaches. Three bestial humanoids stand guard before it, waving flails..." (During the battle,…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Calithena, Alan, Ron Edwards.

8/11/2005 Darcy Burgess: Is that a Dingus in your Dice Bag? -- Real world Research
For the last several months, I've been tackling what amounts to a grand experiment: Shifting my group's focus towards conflict-res, primarily narr-structured games.  Where we were before would probably be…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Darcy Burgess, GB Steve, M. J. Young.

8/11/2005 Sean: Are these two things incompatible?
To reboot my other thread - here are two posts about something I'm trying to work out, one original, one in response to a clarification query by Alan: ----------------------------------- 1.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Sean, GB Steve, contracycle, Andrew Norris, TonyLB, xenopulse, M. J. Young, Noon, Joshua BishopRoby.

8/12/2005 Sean: Puzzles and Monsters
In fantasy fiction, a lot of monsters are actually puzzles. That is, they are problems of the form: - Hero can't solve the puzzle (of the monster's weakness) = hero…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Sean, TonyLB, Andrew Norris, contracycle, Jack Aidley, rrr, cruciel, M. J. Young, Balbinus, jaw6, rafial, Graham Walmsley, Noon, simon_hibbs, Vaxalon, xenopulse, Gamskee, GB Steve.

8/12/2005 Paul Czege: one player's quest to recapture the table-top RPG experience...
...in the medium of computer rpgs: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/issue/4/31 I can't decide if I think he failed for the same reasons he thinks he failed. Paul
In RPG Theory
Participants: Paul Czege, Ron Edwards, Adam Dray, Rob Carriere, Andrew Norris, Artanis, Sean, cruciel, Resonantg, TonyLB, Gaerik, Noon, contracycle, GB Steve, Miskatonic.

8/13/2005 timfire: Resources on world/setting building
I'm in the research phase of a new project. I would like to research world/setting building. I would preferably like sources that discuss world-building in play, but in lieu of…
In RPG Theory
Participants: timfire, Adam Dray, Jasper, Paganini, M. J. Young.

8/15/2005 Troy_Costisick: What Role Does Setting Play In System?
Heya, I'm working on a problem in my latest design, and am hoping to get some good input from you guys.  Let's say you have a finite ammount of space-…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Troy_Costisick, Ron Edwards, GB Steve, Artanis.

8/15/2005 Tobias Wrigstad: [Knutpunkt 2006 RPG con] Call for Papers
[size=10pt][tt] Hi there, the Call for Papers for the book accompanying the Knutpunkt 2006 convention on role-playing is now official. It can be found here: http://jeepen.org/knutpunkt/ but is also included…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Tobias Wrigstad.

8/19/2005 M. J. Young: A Model for a CRPG?
Recently I was corresponding with someone whose understanding of The Big Model is rather incomplete. In the course of our discussion he portrayed his dream of designing a CRPG with…
In RPG Theory
Participants: M. J. Young, Noon, Warren, Adam Dray, contracycle, JamesSterrett, Eric J..

8/19/2005 exploreRPG: Tabletop to CRPG? Share your thoughts...
I am a professional software engineer that has also developed what I think to be a near-perfect model for table-top RPGs to be converted to CRPGs. My design, while it…
In RPG Theory
Participants: exploreRPG, M. J. Young, Gordon C. Landis, Vaxalon, Noon, nikola, Ron Edwards, Silmenume, Selene Tan, LordSmerf, Tobaselly.

8/21/2005 ragnar: Resolution mechanics in Zero?
I was not sure where to post this, so admins feel free to move the post if I got it wrong. Ron mentioned in one of the articles that the…
In RPG Theory
Participants: ragnar, Ron Edwards.

8/23/2005 Balbinus: What creates complexity in rpg mechanics?
Hi guys, I posted this originally on rpg.net, as it was inspired by a comment in a thread about how many game character sheets tend to look like tax returns,…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Balbinus, GB Steve, komradebob, ewilen, John Kim, Joshua BishopRoby, LogicaLunatic, ragnar, Nogusielkt.

8/23/2005 J. Tuomas Harviainen: Please rip our questionnaire apart.
We have done field research on larp experiences by using this questionnaire, with the intent of gathering data on how people experience the in-game stare. It also contains questions that…
In RPG Theory
Participants: J. Tuomas Harviainen, Eero Tuovinen, xenopulse, beingfrank, Graham Walmsley.

8/24/2005 Levi Kornelsen: Physical Game Staging - Black Box LARP
I've been slowly building up my methodology for staging LARP events, and I feel that it could benefit from some critical analysis and any general thoughts others had. This is…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Levi Kornelsen, Andrew Morris, komradebob, Matt, Albert of Feh.

8/24/2005 TonyLB: Who's your Pep-Squad?
So I was chatting with Andrew Cooper at GenCon, and we were talking about how Capes falls apart if nobody brings the excitement to the table.  It's like people come…
In RPG Theory
Participants: TonyLB, Ron Edwards, Gaerik, Miskatonic, Technocrat13, J. Tuomas Harviainen, Joshua BishopRoby, Noon, c, Meguey.

8/25/2005 Silmenume: Exploration does not equal Bricolage.
I broke this off from Xenopulse’s (Christian) thread Complications Instead of Failure as I felt this would be too far out of the original subject matter.  A link to the…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Silmenume, ewilen, cruciel.

8/25/2005 gsoylent: Investigation sequences
This is taken from the Actual PLay thread Star Wars d20: Is this Sim vs. Gamism http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=16489.0 The problem in question was in a Star Wars adventure in which the…
In RPG Theory
Participants: gsoylent, Albert of Feh, Technocrat13, Joshua BishopRoby, hix, Nogusielkt, pedyo, Eero Tuovinen.

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